


More than you bargained for

by strawberriesandtophats



Series: Disaster Management has always been their forte [7]
Category: Endeavour (TV)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Love Confessions, M/M, On-Again/Off-Again Relationship, Secret Relationship, Support, relationship negotation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-23
Updated: 2016-10-23
Packaged: 2018-08-24 04:46:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,393
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8357860
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/strawberriesandtophats/pseuds/strawberriesandtophats
Summary: Morse comes to a realization about the reality of his relationship with Jakes, Thursday attempts to catch a criminal and Bright does emotional damage control. Jakes just makes toast.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [theCopperCow](https://archiveofourown.org/users/theCopperCow/gifts).



> This series is way longer than I ever thought it would be. Hope some of you are enjoying yourselves.

“I would have loved him all my life,” the suspect said, wiping away the tears with her palm, and Morse felt his stomach drop. But he shook his head, trying not to think about Jakes walking in the opposite direction from him one day soon and disappearing into the crowd.

Inspector Thursday, however, was completely focused on the job at hand and went completely still beside Morse, listening intently to the suspect as she stared into the distance. Interrogations were often a bit hit and miss as the suspects were prone to lying by omission and pulling all sorts of tricks. But sometimes you hit the jackpot.

“Staying with him was not a valid possibility?” Morse asked, watching her expression. The man she was talking about was their prime suspect, a con artist who had been getting away with swindling hundreds of people and had most likely murdered one of his friends who had contacted the police about him two weeks ago. “It would have been a dangerous life, always moving from one place to the next, never sure where you are safe…”

“It was an affair,” the suspect stated, “but it was undeniably the most thrilling and the most satisfying and enjoyable affair I’ve ever had. So it lingers in my memories.”

“So, you knew that he was a con artist?” Thursday said, nodding at Morse with a glint of approval in his eyes. Morse kept his eyes on the suspect, who was smiling wistfully and then outright grinned at them both.

“Well, everyone likes a bit of danger in their lives. Keeps you on your toes,” she said, leaning back in the chair.”You should know that, you are officers of the law, after all.”

There was a soft knock on the door, and Morse stood up at Thursday’s signal. Superintendent Bright stood in the doorway and motioned Morse to come closer as Jakes slipped inside the room and took his seat.

Morse closed the door behind him, following Bright who strode through the hallway like he was on a mission. The man was smiling, turning his head to look at Morse.  
“I’ve just spoken with Chief Superintendent Wheeler,” Bright said, his eyes gleaming, “and he told me that they have some very interesting files on our main suspect. Very interesting, indeed.”

“His former mistress just admitted that she knew he was a conman, sir,” Morse replied, “so the fact that he used to be a criminal has been confirmed. Thursday’s going to get as much information about him as he can from her before he brings him in for questioning, as I understand it.”

“She gave him away, then?” Bright said, tilting his head in a thoughtful manner. “Well, not all love lasts forever, hmm?”

“No, sir,” Morse replied, feeling his throat go dry. “I suspect it doesn’t-“

The look in Bright’s eyes changed, as if he’d realized he’d said something wrong and regretted it.

“Even if it doesn’t, it’s important to hold onto hope, Constable,” Bright said kindly. “Treasuring the good things in life is important, hmmm?”

“Yes, sir,” Morse said, ducking his head when Bright patted him on the shoulder.

“Very good, Constable,” Bright said, nodding, “I believe it is time for us both to return to our duties.”

And the Superintendent turned around and headed towards his office. Morse hurried to his own desk, reading reports and typing page after page in the silent and empty office. After an half an hour of listening to nothing but the grating sound of the typewriter while everyone else who would usually be in the office at this time of day was out on investigations or chasing criminals down the street, Morse stood up. He’d finished all of his paperwork and most of Jakes’ paperwork for good measure.

He followed the scent of toasted bread to the staff room, where Jakes was rummaging around In the fridge, holding a jar that looked like it contained strawberry jam. Jakes opened the jar and found a suspiciously sharp knife in the cutlery drawer. Morse looked around the room and saw that there were two slices of buttered toast on a large plate on the clean counter. The window was open and the breeze lifted the curtains as Morse looked at the various types of spread on the counter. Now, he could understand why the jar of Marmite was there, along with a large jar that appeared to contain some blueberry jam. But Morse wasn’t sure why Jakes thought it was appropriate to put ham. egg and asparagus salad on a piece of toast, since the container was already open but it was possible that he’d simply been cleaning the fridge as well.

Morse reached for the jar of Marmite, curious to see if there was any left. But before he could open it, Jakes patted him on the shoulder in a friendly manner.

“I made you some toast,” Jakes announced, spreading strawberry jam on one of the slices and handing Morse the toast and the plate before grabbing his own plate and gesturing at one of the worn chairs by the table.

“You didn’t have to bother, I could have made my own-“ Morse began. But Jakes didn’t seem to think he was being very polite and pointed at the jar of Marmite.

“You were going to put that on it,” Jakes said, “the poor toast doesn’t deserve that. I just saved your digestion and your happiness.”

Morse furrowed his brow but took a bite out of the toast Jakes had prepared for him. It was delicious. The strawberry jam was clearly home-made.

“Marmite isn’t so bad,” Morse countered.

Jakes didn’t dignify that with a response. Instead he handed Morse a glass of orange juice and poured himself some.

“There wasn’t any time for breakfast this morning, with Thursday showing up at before dawn,” Jakes remarked, taking a sip of his orange juice.

“Yes,” Morse said, “thank you for the toast.”

Jakes nodded, smiling at him like he’d won a small prize at a booth somewhere. Then he shoved the rest of his toast into his mouth and headed towards the radio.

Morse sat down while Jakes fiddled with the radio in between bites of toast. Finally, Jakes settled on a station that played popular music and sat down opposite Morse, who was still nibbling on his toast. Inspector Thursday had parked his car in front of Jakes’ bed sit that morning and hadn’t even raised an eyebrow when he’d seen Morse adjusting the collar of the shirt he’d worn yesterday. He’d just asked if they’d had a nice sleepover. Morse combed his fingers through his hair in response, and Jakes slid into the car, in his fresh suit and with perfectly styled hair. And Thursday had smiled, just a little bit.

Morse continued eating his toast, ignoring the allure of putting down the toast to cover his ears so he didn’t have to listen to the jaunty tune. But he suspected that it was necessary to make sacrifices for love. Jakes joined him at the table, grinning at him as the sun flooded the little room. It was a beautiful autumn day and everyone but them was out solving crime. They could misbehave a bit and have a peaceful moment together before all hell broke loose.

Jakes was still grinning, most likely because of the look on Morse’s face since he’d crammed the rest of his toast into his mouth and was having a hard time chewing. They wouldn’t last forever, it wasn’t even likely that they’d last for a few years or even a few more months. But he had this now, and enjoying it now in the moment was something he could do. The music had changed, and the radio was playing a soft melody reminiscent of summer nights under starry skies.

Morse smiled back at Jakes, lifting his glass of orange juice in a toast. Jakes did the same and the glasses made a clinking sound as they touched. A split second later there was shouting in the hallway because the main suspect had attempted to run for it. They hastily put down the glasses and ripped the door open, thereby accidentally slamming it in the suspect’s face.

It was going to be a good day solving crime in the Oxford City Police. They’d make sure of it.


End file.
